File Permission Issues

There are two ways of accessing files when working with Joomla: either directly via your webserver or through an FTP client. Different files and directories have permissions specifying who can read, write or access them. Sometimes the permission settings of your webserver and your FTP client can collide, so that when trying to install an extension from the backend you are suddenly confronted with messages, like JFolder::create: Could not create directory or Directory not writable: /administrator/templates/system/ or you may not be able to save theme settings.

Using an FTP client may also change file ownership to the FTP user of the files or directories you changed the permissions on. This may cause problems on some webservers. To avoid this, you can use a Joomla component like eXtplorer to update the permission through the Joomla administration.

Download the Joomla component eXtplorer and install it. It allows you to edit, delete, copy, rename, archive and unpack files and directories directly on your webserver.

Login to your Joomla administration, go to the eXtplorer component and browse to the directory on which you want to change the permissions.

Right click on the directory and choose Change Rights.

Check the options as shown below. Make sure the Recurse into subdirectories option is checked. Then hit the Save button.